Burned Commentary: Chapters 1-5

 

Chapter 1:  The beginning of this story started where Surprise Return left off.  Jackson was recovering and being watched over by his family until he wakes up.  I borrowed the classic spy troupe that Jackson escapes at the first opportunity (the empty room).  Jackson stole Rocki's spare keys and hides in her car knowing that she would be leaving.  His first order of business is survival and to do so steals resources from the CIA.  The chapter ended with him driving for his family's house.  For the remastered version, I add more to the conversation between Rocki and Jackson during their drive to the storage depot.

Chapter 2:  The much-anticipated reunion chapter.  Despite the fact that he knew that he shouldn't Jackson couldn't help but return home.  He had a lot of explaining to do to his family who were worried about him.  I also needed to plant the seeds of animosity between Jackson and Max that would be seen throughout the story.  They never go back to being the brothers they once were.

I also set up the next chapter and 2 spinoff stories based on the conversation between DJ and Jackson. (see previous commentary).

Chapter 3:  This was one of my favorite chapters and when it came time to wanting to remaster my story this was the primary reason for it.

The chapter started with Jackson playfully evading FBI agents that are tailing him thanks to his Burn Notice.  Jackson does not physically harm them as that would bring trouble down on him.

This chapter introduced Jessica and Brandon Matthews to the readers who are important to the next part of the story.

Taking the line that Jackson took out the men I wanted to detail how he systematically took out the guards.  The other big change to Chapter 3 was the introduction of Jasmine.  I needed a character like her to showcase the lengths that Jackson was willing to go to protect loved ones in a means justifying the ends.

Jackson has his heart-to-heart with Chloe, something they both needed.     The one thing that Jackson does that is not revealed till the next story is that he tells Chloe a half-truth about the 3 years that they were not together.

Chapter 4: This chapter started the process of dealing with Jackson's Burn Notice.  Jackson needed strong political help so to do that he needed an introduction.  This brought us back to Jessica and her son.

A part that was added in the remastered dealt with the PO Box.  It occurred to me that I never said what Jackson did to keep the files safe during his time on the run.  While Jackson was sure to have some files on him he had to keep them somewhere else until he needed them.  Surprise Return told that story but to get them in his hands again he either needed to go to Florida or have them mailed to someone the government wasn't looking into.

The biggest takeaway from this chapter was the concept of the Heartbreaker, a man that targets women for specific reasons.

Chapter 5:  Jackson has found and extradited the Heartbreaker.  By this time Jackson knows everything about the man and everyone, he has hurt.  As much as he wants to destroy this man for the part he has played in messing with his life the Heartbreaker is the Senators to deal with.  The chapter serves as a building block for the potential relationship between Jackson and Jessica.